Wisconsin Becomes 28th State To Join U.S. Constitution Convention Call, But Failure Eminent

It takes two-thirds or 34 states to call a U.S. Constitution Convention to add amendments for a balance federal budget and other proposed amendments that could target liberties and Constitutional rights of citizens, but Republican controlled state legislatures today are a mere 32, which a Convention to actually take place in the near future is less likely to become a reality.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

November 8, 2017

Madison, WI - On Tuesday, the Wisconsin State Senate voted 19-14 to join other Republican controlled state legislatures to call on a U.S. Constitution Convention in accordance to Article V of our Constitution in order to add amendments to balance the federal budget, which two-thirds or 34 states are needed to make it a reality. If the U.S. Constitution Convention would take place, it will take three-fourths or 38 states in total to pass such amendments. As it stands today, there are only 32 states that have Republican controlled legislatures, which the Convention call is led by the GOP and it wants to open a can of worms to add hidden agenda amendments that could very well eliminate certain liberties, Constitutional rights, and legalize voter suppression, according to Democrats and opponents of the Constitution Convention. (Today, they are 32 Republican controlled legislatures, 12 Democratic controlled legislatures and 6 split legislatures, according to Wikipedia.org)

Last June, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted 54-41 to pass its version of the U.S. Constitutional Convention resolution to join a call for a Convention and Governor Scott Walker (R) favors the act (both Senate and Assembly resolutions), but he is not required to sign on.

Some states who adopted resolutions and voted in favor of calling for a Constitutional convention the 1970s and 1980s have since rescinded their resolutions. Once a Constitutional convention takes place, delegates can open up the Convention to whatever amendments its delegates choose to propose. A balanced budget amendment could deepen the recession and prolong it, requiring a balance budget every year, no matter the state of the economy triggering job losses. Also federally funded programs, such as Medicare and Social Security would be vulnerable to cuts, which federal grants account for about a third of all state government revenues, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Wisconsin Budget Project).

Members and allies of both Acción Ciudadana de Wisconsin an affiliate of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which has over 900 members statewide gathered at the State Capitol in Madison to show opposition to the State Senate resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention and Senate Bill 281/Assembly Bill 354, which would permit co-ops to make certain changes to their bylaws that are currently prohibited under state law, a change that would only apply, if the co-op votes to adopt them. 

Opponents of the SB 281/AB 354 say that up to 20% of the cooperative's board could be turned over to non-members, including outside investors, lose the right to review cooperative records that are more than 5 years old and a co-op wold be allowed to give greater than 8% returns to capital investors. The co-op could also choose to base voting power on patronage, rather than the principle of 1 member, 1 vote, according to the Wisconsin Farmers Union fact sheet.

The State Senate on Tuesday voted to refer SB 281 back to Senate Committee on Senate Organization.